Prison terms net strong reactions

Varying sentences leave Gloucester residents wondering about justice system in county

Anthony Detroin Goins (Gloucester Sheriff )

May 16, 2013|By Matt Sabo, msabo@dailypress.com | 757-247-7872

GLOUCESTER — A conviction of murder recently netted a Gloucester resident Ricky Witcher a sentence in which he will serve 15 years in prison, with another three years tacked on for using a firearm in the commission of a felony.

A series of residential burglaries recently earned Gloucester teenager Aaron S. Starks a sentence in which he will serve 11 years in prison. It's just seven years short of the prison term of Witcher, who strangled his victim, Karen Kay Kelly, with his bare hands so fiercely he broke her neck and then shoved a rifle in her mouth and pulled the trigger.

At the other end of the spectrum, after Jeremy S. Hedrick was convicted of reckless driving for falling asleep at the wheel and ramming into a car that resulted in the death of a Gloucester man and left his teenage daughter with serious injuries — from which she's still recovering more than six months later — a judge sentenced him to a year in jail.

Court observers and victims alike have questioned the justice of varying sentences. After Hedrick's sentence, Commonwealth's Attorney Holly Smith received so many inquiries and comments from local residents outraged by what they perceived to be a light sentence that she wrote a 673-word letter to the editor outlining the punishment and the laws and criminal procedures that led to it.

Since then, Smith said a group of prosecutors is banding together looking to toughen state laws in cases such as Hedrick's that would result in lengthier incarceration.

In other instances, sentences are based not only on the severity of the crime, but sentencing guidelines that take into account past convictions and the nature of the convictions. The sentencing guidelines are designed to take out wide variations and encourage consistency, Smith said.

It partly explains why a murderer such as Witcher can have a lighter sentence than convicted felon Anthony Detroin Goins, whose lengthy criminal background was a factor in a judge sentencing him to 118 years in prison — with all but 38 years suspended — for a series of residential burglaries and a 2009 armed robbery of a Gloucester convenience store in which no one was physically injured.

Still, Smith said sentences can vary widely based on the judge involved.

"Judges are individuals," Smith said. "Frequently it is up to the judge to make really, really hard decisions about what is appropriate."

A study of the fiscal year 2012 sentencings in the state's 31Circuit Court jurisdictions by the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission found that the 9th Circuit — which includes Gloucester — and 3rd Circuit had the lowest rate of compliance with sentencing guidelines at 73 percent, according to a state report. Although not obligated to sentence within guideline recommendations, judges are required to submit to the commission in writing why they departed from the guidelines, the report stated.

Judges in the 9th Circuit imposed stronger sentences than guidelines recommended in 14 percent of the cases, but gave lighter sentences than guidelines recommended in 13 percent of the cases, according to the report.

Ashley Zeno, the daughter of Kelly, said she has accepted Witcher's sentence, but doesn't agree with it.

"I feel a murderer in any case should get life," Zeno said. "A life for a life until our judicial system understands that there is no justice. Just closure and the start of the healing process."

Zeno said the court system protects the defendant's rights, not the victim's.

"I have forgiven Ricky and have started to heal," she said. "However, I have a new perspective of the court system that has left me disappointed."

Gloucester sentencings

•Mark Andrew Harris: Sentenced on Jan. 3, 2012, to serve two weekends in jail after pleading guilty to one felony count of an indecent act with a child. Harris had sex with a 16-year-old employee, including once in the back of his office. A prosecutor sought a five-year prison sentence.

•Anthony Detroin Goins: Sentenced on Nov. 23, 2010, to 118 years in prison, with all but 38 years suspended, for a 2009 armed robbery of Rick's Country Store and other charges to include residential burglaries.

•Karl Antonio Brooks: Faces life in prison plus 149 years for being the getaway driver in the Rick's Country Store armed robbery, in addition to participating in residential burglaries with Goins.

•Aaron Sekou Starks: The 19-year-old man was sentenced on April 1, 2013, to 90 years in prison, with all but 11 years suspended, for a series of residential burglaries.

•Holden Michael Patrick: The 19-year-old man was sentenced on April 1, 2013, to 60 years in prison, with all but six years suspended, for a series of residential burglaries.

•Jeremy Shane Hedrick: Sentenced on April 11, 2013, to one year in jail on a reckless driving conviction. Hedrick apparently fell asleep at the wheel in October 2012 and slammed into another vehicle driven by Donald Troy Durham, causing it to careen off of Route 17 and roll several times. Durham later died of his injuries and his teenage daughter is still recovering from her injuries.

•Richard Earl "Ricky" Witcher Jr.: Sentenced on April 26, to 30 years in prison for murdering Karen Kay Kelly in July 2011. Witcher had 15 years suspended, but was also sentenced to three years in prison for using a firearm in the commission of a felony.